Chapter 15

He stared at the handsome Alaskan malamute, his eyes practically shining beneath his sunglasses, though he still maintained an arrogant air.

Xin Chun said, "I'm Owen's temporary tenant."

William shifted his gaze from the dog to Xin Chun's face and lowered his sunglasses with one finger, revealing pale blue eyes. "Tenant? Owen, since when were you short on money and needed to rent out your house?"

He looked Xin Chun up and down. Oh, an attractive Eastern young man. How old was he? He couldn't tell.

Owen said, "Answer my question, William. Why did you come to Hua Country?"

William did not dare offend this cousin of his.

He said, "I ran away from home. I had nowhere else to go, so I could only come to you. They can't possibly fly all the way to Hua Country to drag me back."

"Take me in, Cousin."

The outside was not a suitable place to talk.

They entered the living room. Xin Chun thoughtfully gave them space to talk

and took the dog to play in the garden.

Owen said, "Why did you run away from home? You're in your twenties, not two."

William said, "They wanted me to get engaged. I don't even know that woman, so why should I? They won't let me keep a dog. Are they not even going to let me choose my future wife?"

"So I ran away. Cousin, don't snitch on me."

Owen pinched the bridge of his nose. "You have to go back eventually."

William said nonchalantly, "I'll deal with it for as long as I can."

Owen's upbringing would not allow him to turn someone away.

So William moved in.

At first, he thought Xin Chun was merely an ordinary tenant. But after living there for several days, he discovered that Owen seemed to be—no, he was definitely pursuing Xin Chun!

After realizing this, William immediately sought Owen out in private and questioned him, receiving Owen's definite answer.

"Yes, I'm pursuing him, with marriage in mind."

William could not believe it. "How could you? No, you can't!"

Owen asked calmly, "Why can't I?"

William said, "Of course it's because, because... anyway, how can you be with a man?"

After throwing out those words, William turned and left.

But from that day onward, Xin Chun began to notice that William was subtly targeting him.

Once he realized this, Xin Chun slowly revealed a smile. Oh, so it had begun. William, were you ready to kneel and call me Dad?

Chapter 15

William secretly observed Xin Chun and ultimately came to a conclusion: no matter how he looked at him, Xin Chun was an ordinary Hua Country native with no notable family background.

He was good-looking, capable at work, and the dog he had brought was very cute.

But! William believed he was not a suitable match for his cousin.

Owen had told him to speak Hua Country language to Xin Chun, on the grounds that Xin Chun did not understand Y language.

He had graduated from university but did not understand Y language?

Then how had he gotten into university?

William went to ask Xin Chun that very question.

Xin Chun said, "I can recognize words and make sentences. I haven't used it in years since graduating, so I gave it all back to my teachers."

William said, "..."

He asked again, "Owen is pursuing you. What do you think?"

Xin Chun lowered his head and put on a shy act. "I need to think about it."

William nearly choked on his breath. His cousin was pursuing him, someone so outstanding, and he actually needed to think about it? No, the two of them were completely unsuitable for each other.

William resolved to stop this mistaken development, intending to start with their incompatible habits and personalities. Yet after observing them for several days, he found almost no opportunity to make a move.

The two of them got along with such tacit understanding and harmony that it was as though he, the cousin, was the outsider. Here, he fully demonstrated what it meant to be an eyesore and a third wheel.

William wanted to find fault with Xin Chun and make him understand the gap between himself and Owen, so that he would back down on his own. Yet he could not find anything to criticize.

That day, Owen went out on business. William was fiddling with his racing car model in the living room, halfway through assembling it when Xin Chun came downstairs and sat on the sofa, looking at it curiously.

"You like racing?"

William looked up. "Yeah. I used to race often overseas. My family has collected plenty of racing car models—an entire room full of display cases."

But he had returned to Hua Country in a hurry and had only brought two racing car models. Fortunately, S City was not without places to race.

Although William's skills were terrible, he loved racing too much to go without it. On his first day in Hua Country, he had already found a racetrack.

At that thought, an idea suddenly occurred to William.

He said to Xin Chun, "Do you know what kind of family my cousin comes from, what his background is, and who is in his family?"

Xin Chun said, "I know. Owen told me. He said we need to understand each other."

William thought, He even told him that... His teeth ached.

"Then do you know about my cousin's past?"

Xin Chun looked puzzled.

"My cousin used to race too, and he was the best. Back then, he was especially popular in the racing circle. He was this good."

William raised his thumb.

Xin Chun appropriately showed a surprised expression, as though he had never expected Owen to know how to race.

William said, "Unfortunately, my cousin was only doing it for fun. He doesn't touch it anymore."

Anyone who saw the way Owen dressed now would never imagine that he had once driven wildly around racetracks, so free and uninhibited.

Or rather, it had been the recklessness of youth?

But Owen was not old even now.

Xin Chun recalled how Owen had taken him racing in his previous life. That had been an entirely different side of Owen.

At that moment, William leaned closer and said, "I still have photos on my phone of my cousin racing back then. Do you want to see them?"

Naturally, Xin Chun nodded. He wanted to see them.

William said, "But I can't just show them to you that easily. There's a condition."

"What condition?"

"You have to come somewhere with me."

S City Racetrack. This was where William had brought Xin Chun. Only people with money could enter, and there were quite a few foreigners on the track.